Turkish volunteers flock to monitor knife-edge election

ISTANBUL, June 2 (Reuters) - In a meeting room above an
upmarket restaurant in Istanbul's Beyoglu district, some 200
people listen as a young lawyer explains what to watch for when
votes are counted in Sunday's pivotal parliamentary election.

Tens of thousands of volunteers have signed up to monitor
the vote, set to be the closest in more than a decade, in what
organisers say is a response an erosion in the rule of law.

Oy Ve Otesi ("Vote and Beyond"), was set up the aftermath of
anti-government demonstrations two years ago. In last year's
presidential election, it was able to monitor six cities. This
time it is targeting 70,000 volunteers in 162 towns.

Sercan Celebi, who quit management consultancy McKinsey to
run the movement, said it was driven by diminishing trust in
Turkey's institutions and inspired by the 2013 mass protests
that began over government plans to build on an Istanbul park.

"We finally saw there were enough people out there to make
this happen," Celebi, 32, told Reuters. "It's very strongly
correlated to the diminishing role of the rule of law in our
society ... people are losing faith."

Erdogan has tightened his grip on the judiciary, police and
media in recent years. Dozens of critical journalists have faced
prosecution, while citizens including a high school student have
been taken to court for insulting him on social media.

Turkey nonetheless has a history of broadly credible
elections, with the ruling AK Party (AKP) strengthening its
majority in three successive votes since 2002.

Erdogan, elected last year with 52 percent after more than a
decade as prime minister, wants the AKP to win enough of a
majority to change the constitution and hand him executive
powers. For that, the AKP would need to win three-fifths of
parliament's 550 seats.

The pro-Kurdish HDP could thwart those plans if it crosses
the 10 percent threshold needed to enter parliament, potentially
even forcing the AKP into coalition.

Polls suggest it will go down to the wire and the volunteers
of Oy Ve Otesi say this has fuelled fears of fraud.

Marketing manager Can Gokcen, 26, helping to organise the
training session, said the aim was to educate voters, not
influence their choice.

"We tell them what their rights are. We provide them with
the necessary laws," he said.

Oy Ve Otesi says 75 percent of its funding comes from small
donations and that it gets some help from the Swedish and Dutch
consulates. Though many of the volunteers oppose the AKP, they
are told to leave their political opinions at the door when they
monitor the vote and insist their movement is non-partisan.

The government disagrees. "We do not think that group is
really independent," AKP deputy chairman Mustafa Sentop, who is
in charge of the ruling party's election preparations, told
Reuters. "If they are trying to cast a shadow over the ballot
box, we will not allow that."

MISTRUST

Allegations of electoral irregularities surfaced last year,
when observers said some districts in Ankara recorded a turnout
of over 100 percent in a March municipal vote.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz blamed a cat in a power station
for electricity outages at some voting centres, drawing ridicule
on social media, although no link to fraud has been established.

A study published in May by Professor Ali Carkoglu of Koc
University in Istanbul found 43 percent of potential voters
thought the June 7 election would not be fair.

"That the sanctity of the ballot box is now an issue, in a
country with a long record of fair elections, highlights a lack
of confidence in the rule of law in Turkey," said Jonathan
Friedman, senior associate at risk consultancy Stroz Friedberg.

"These concerns are also spreading in the business
community," he told Reuters.

Erik Meyersson, an assistant professor at the Stockholm
School of Economics who writes on Turkey, said monitoring the
vote in the predominantly Kurdish southeast, where the AK Party
fears a strong HDP showing, would be critical.

"Just as the electoral stakes increase, so may the demand
for tampering with votes (on both sides)," he wrote on his blog.

Oy Ve Otesi says two-thirds of its volunteers are women and
two-thirds are aged between 26 and 45. Celebi said the group
would cover 45 Turkish provinces and would be "fairly strongly"
represented in the southeast.

Electoral laws only provide for representatives of political
parties and independent candidates to monitor the vote, meaning
that Oy Ve Otesi is dependent on parties for access.

Celebi said the group was working with five opposition
parties but that the AKP had declined, arguing that it supported
democratic initiatives but had its own monitoring procedures.

In the meeting room over the Beyoglu restaurant, a former
Italian schoolhouse more than a century old, the volunteers are
aware of the limits of their influence.

"For the first time I feel responsible because I feel like
there will be cheating in the elections," said copywriter Ozgun
Tangla. "At least I will feel like I did what I could."